Thank you to LitzkyPR and Hasbro for providing us with this free sample.

The Sith Trooper is the poster child for The Rise of Skywalker.  In July 2019, Disney lined up a slew of its Star Wars product licensees and simultaneously revealed several different pieces of merchandise featuring the Sith Trooper.  Notably absent as of today (mid-August 2019, for those reading this in the future) is any (official) word of a Sith Trooper for TVC.  It seems unlikely that this character will not be represented in 3.75” by the time TVC rolls out some characters for TROS, but in the meantime, we can only take a gander at other product lines.

For me, reviewing a 6” figure is tantamount to reviewing the board game Sorry!, or a jug of Tide Pods, or a fire hydrant.  I have no emotional connection to the item whatsoever.  By choice, I personally own four 6” figures.  I have Captain Rex and a 501st Trooper, which are part of my 501st focus collection.  I also have 2 Jawas: the ANH40 carded version, and the regular TBS retail version.  I even pre-ordered Chopper, but my order was eventually cancelled and I just didn’t care enough to re-rorder from a different retailer.  Instead, I used the $20 to go to Qdoba.  The other 6” figures I have in my house were provided to Bantha Skull by LitzkyPR and Hasbro. 

The figure looks similar to a standard First Order Stormtrooper, but the armor is a bit differently shaped.  Of note, there are patterns of grooves etched into the armor throughout, including the helmet.  It actually looks pretty good.  You can see from the pictures that the articulation is impressive, at least when compared to most 3.75” figures.  The shoulders have a double joint, which seems to give them a bit more range of motion than I am used to seeing.  Not sure if this is standard on 6” figures, but you can convincingly cross the figure’s arms in front of his chest.  Also notable are the double-jointed knees, a concept which is not yet ready for prime time in the One True Scale, at least on a figure with bare elbows.  What has been done to great effect on a few 3.75 figures are the rocker style ankles, as they give figures sure footing when making action poses.  The ankles are implemented here, as I believe they are on most 6” figures.  My complaint is that the ankles on the Sith Trooper do not have a great range of motion for dorsiflexion.  Yeah.  Look it up.

The paint application is simple.  The armor is fire engine red, along with a few bits of black here and there, particularly on the facemask.  I do appreciate that the body glove is cast in a flat black, which almost passes for a realistic looking rubbery material, while the armor plating is shiny.  The thigh swivels are perfectly hidden and integrated where the shiny red armor meets the flat black body glove, as you can see by the close up of the crotch.  How many collecting sites give you the opportunity to analyze a figure’s crotch?  You’re welcome.  An oddity (as far as my limited experience with 6” figures goes) is that the shoulder armor is made of a rubbery plastic that bends as you engage the shoulders.  I guess it was designed so that it wouldn’t hinder the shoulder’s range of motion, as is often the case with bulky shoulder armor.  It’s a bit odd, but perhaps accomplishes its mission.

The figure comes with 5 different weapons.  With the exception of the heavy cannon, they all integrate well with the figure.  I believe the cannon is meant to interact with a support stand of some sort, which is not included in the set (unless, as I have been known to do, I missed it tucked away somewhere in the box.).  The big claw is helpful if the Sith Trooper is trying to change a lightbulb in the ceiling that is beyond his reach.  Or maybe it’s one of those bitey dinosaur things.  In any case, it’s actually articulated. 

As I have done with the handful of 6” figures that I review for Bantha Skull, I will not provide a grade.  I am not a 6” collector, and do not have enough figures in the line at my disposal to make a proper judgement.  If you are a 6” collector, you will probably like this trooper, but I don’t think it’s anything particularly special or groundbreaking as an action figure, beyond the fact that it is the first character available from The Rise of Skywalker.